Tag Archives: radishes

Spring Panzanella Salad

The Panzanella salad was created in Tuscany as a way to use up stale bread. The classic version is traditionally made in summer. It includes chunks of stale bread and tomatoes, sometimes, onions and basil, simply dressed with olive oil and vinegar.

It is customary to soak the bread, as I discovered on a trip to the Amalfi coast a few years ago. I also discovered that the time honoured panzanella salad is not my jam. I really dislike the texture of the soaked bread. I prefer my stale bread with a bit of crunch.

This is my springtime take on the typical panzanella salad. It’s not prime tomato time yet, so I focused on spring produce. I have included a recipe at the end of the post, but there are no rules. Feel free to improvise and use what looks good to you.

I started with one of the first signs of spring, pea shoots. These are the sweet, curly, tender leaves and stems of the pea plant. Pea shoots have a subtle pea flavor and a light and crunchy texture. They are becoming more readily available. if you can’t find them, arugula or watercress would be a good substitute. If you can find fresh peas, they would add a perfect pop to this salad. Sugar snap peas are a good alternative.
Asparagus is a natural choice for this salad. Although I said there are no rules, I do have two fundamental edicts. Please don’t buy those flavourless skinny-ass pencil asparagus. And, please peel the bottom 2 inches of the stalk once you have trimmed the woody end off. It’s how I was trained. It’s a small detail that adds a bit of finesse and style to your salad.
Up next are radishes. Regular radishes add a bit of heat to the salad.

If you can find watermelon radishes, buy a few. They are larger than regular radishes and kind of gnarly looking on the outside.

But slice one open, and you will be smitten by that gorgeous magenta interior. They are milder than regular radishes and make any salad seem luxe.
And, because I refuse to believe that #putaneggonit is over, top the salad with a jammy (seven minute) egg.

Click here to print recipe for Spring Panzanella Salad.

Springtime Farro Salad and Delusion

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I wish this was the blog post that told you how much I have always hated quinoa, that is until I tried “this” salad. Then I would go on to swear that even if you too are a quinoa hater, this one recipe will change all that and you may now join the righteous and good quinoa lovers of the world. But sadly, this is not the case. I have tried this salad, this one, and that one too. I have not tried it all these ways, but I do believe I have given it a fair shake, and I just don’t like it. It tastes like like a toxic combination of sand and gravel to me. I can’t deal with those tiny grains. They just mush all together in my mouth. There is no chew to them.

The first time I tried quinoa, no one told me that Mother Nature, in all her infinite wisdom, created a bitter coating of saponins over each grain so that the birds would not eat it all up. It needs to be rinsed before cooking. Apparently I am not on Mother Nature’s mailing list so we ended up having to throw dinner in the garbage that night.

I really do want to like quinoa. It has been given the prestigious title of “Superfood”, given it’s incredibly high nutritional value. It is a source of complete protein, a good source of fibre, phosphorous, magnesium, iron and calcium. I just can’t stand it, so I do the next best thing to eating it. I choose a different grain to substitute in all those salads and delude myself into thinking that it has just as much nutritional value as quinoa. Hey, it works for me. I am excellent at deluding myself about all kinds of things.

Lately my grain of choice has been farro. I have written about farro here and here.

I know it’s almost summer, but the Farmer’s Market, where I live, has not gotten the memo yet. Radishes, spring onions and mint are about the only local veggies to have bravely popped their heads out of the recently frozen earth. So a Springtime Salad it is. This gorgeous salad is the creation of Eric Vellend, food editor at Canadian House and Home magazine. You could substitute barley, wheat berries or even, dare I say it, quinoa. Hey I won’t judge.

I adore the hefty chew that farro brings to this dish. The sugar snap peas, barely blanched add sweetness and crunch. The radishes and green onion add a balancing bitterness and sharp bite to the nutty farro. Mint and lemon add the final notes of freshness.

Click here to print recipe for Springtime Farro Salad.

Winter Slaw

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They say if you hold a conch shell up to your ear you can hear the sound of the ocean. I brought one home from our recent trip to the Caribbean not so much as a souvenir, but as a way of continuing the peace and bliss of my vacation. You see, at our hotel, if you put your conch shell outside your hotel room door, you would not be disturbed. It was wonderful. The phone didn’t ring, no one knocked at our door and no one demanded anything from me.

When we got home, I placed my conch shell outside my bedroom and closed the door. Despite this “do not disturb” symbol, clearly left outside the door for anyone to see (or trip over) the phone rang, my blackberry dinged and my son called me for help with some inane i-tunes request. Clearly the shell’s magical powers only work in the Caribbean! The post holiday bliss balloon bubble has burst! Everyone disturbing me and no one bringing me my morning toast in a silver toast holder with 3 jam choices. As my husband would say, “Get over it!”

So back to reality and cooking dinner. I was so inspired by all the fresh fruits and vegetables I ate when I was away. However, although the calendar says April, spring vegetables have not quite arrived here in Ottawa. The pickings were pretty slim at the market. I had recently watched Jamie Oliver prepare “The Best Winter Veg Coleslaw” and adapted it to work for me. I found some beautiful radishes, still attached to their leaves, fennel, red and green cabbage, snow peas, carrots, purple onion and shallots. I picked up some Italian parsley, mint and dill and set to work creating.